Administrators Commend CAF Programme For Coaches

Football administrators have commended the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for initiating the Coaching Licensing System that would serve as a platform to evaluate coaches and foster professionalism.

In separate interviews with newsmen, some football fans said the programme would help develop the standard of coaching in Nigeria and the world generally.

Former coach of the Flying Eagles, Tunde Disu said the programme was a laudable one which was aimed at achieving homogeneous and high professional standards.

“The coaching licence system is a good one because it will be uniformed and it will boost coaches’ standard, anywhere in the world,” he said.

Disu said that the licence would particularly help to improve coaches of football clubs who usually have little or no formal training.

“If you look at most club coaches when they come for employment, they have little or no certified experience and this is alarming. This is a great idea.

“The long term goal is the implementation of identical licensces everywhere on the globe through the establishment of a relevant uniformity system.

“ It will allow coaches to trade their know-how and qualifications throughout Africa, Europe, Asia or Latin America,” he said.

Tade Azeez, Vice President, Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) advised that the programme to acquire the licence should be organised in the six geopolitical zones to reduce the cost of the coaches travelling long distances.

Azeez also said that the cost of obtaining the licence was too high for the coaches and suggested that the management of clubs should assist their coaches to ensure they participated in the programme.

Taiwo Afinnih, a former Lagos FA Chairman, also commended the initiative and urged the coaches to take advantage of the programme to enhance their capacity.

“Club coaches should not look at the cost, they should be concerned about what they will gain and the life time achievements they will benefit,” Afinnih said.

The participants, aside paying as much as N5,000 for the forms, are also expected to pay a participation fee of N30, 000.

The Confederation of Africa Football launched the programmes in January 2009.

According to CAF online.com, the landmark licensing programme seeks to set and promote standard regarding coaching on the continent and help recognise African coaches for their knowledge and experience.

Coaches without CAF licence would not be allowed to coach national teams, clubs or even academies in the country from next season.

The Licence B coaching programme would commence after the completion of Licence C in Abuja.